December Artist News

published: Nov. 29, 2023

KAREEM BANDEALY (2011 3Arts Awardee), ROBERT SCHLEIFER (2013 3Arts/Siragusa Foundation Awardee), BETHANY THOMAS (2019 3Arts/Restoration Hardware Awardee), and WAI YIM (2022 Make a Wave Awardee)

Now through December 31, Goodman Theatre brings back a holiday tradition with their restaging of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. In this year’s production, Kareem plays the role of young Jacob Marley, Robert plays Mr. Fezziwig, Bethany plays the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Wai plays the School Official.

 

DERRICK WOODS-MORROW (2021 3Arts/Gary & Denise Gardner Fund Awardee)

On view now through February 3, Derrick presents a solo exhibition entitled Scirocco – Arifi: Where the Sand Meets the Sea at ENGAGE Projects. “In this photo-forward exhibition, leisure scenes float atop the gallery walls, evidencing Woods-Morrow’s recent 3Arts Camargo Foundation residency in the coastal town of Cassis, France. The small town’s proximity to the larger Marseille, a historically critical trade hub and France’s largest port of commerce, inspired Woods-Morrow’s research to link a variety of labored upon and traded materials prevalent in contemporary culture to global Black migratory

histories.” 

 

SAM THOUSAND (2019 3Arts/Southwest Airlines Awardee)

On December 1, Sam wraps up his monthly residency at Dorian’s with his band the Soul Vortex.  The group plays two sets at 9pm and 11pm. 

 

SANDRA DELGADO (2018 3Arts/Community Awardee)

On December 8, Sandra teams up with Collaboraction to bring her acclaimed Sandra Delgado Experience to Epiphany Center for the Arts.  “The Sandra Delgado Experience releases a wave of joy and love that washes over an audience with high-energy cumbias, heart-soaked boleros, and mystical moments that embrace the now while celebrating the heart and soul of Latine culture. In this unique offering, Sandra Delgado, a Chicago cultural icon, weaves together song, story, and sublime moments of connection into an incomparable, hypnotic tapestry of her bilingual and bicultural existence that leaves the audience craving ‘una mas.’”

 

NORMAN LONG (2011 3Arts Awardee)

On December 8, Norman teams up with the experimental music group, Ensemble Dal Niente, for a free evening of sound and music at Co-Prosperity Sphere.  

 

ELGIN BOKARI T. SMITH (2018 3Arts/Denise & Gary Gardner Awardee)

On December 9 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Elgin presents Pocket Con 2023, a free comic convention for Chicago youth that celebrates characters and creators of color. “Our mission for this event is primarily to promote literacy using the graphic novel format, reflect on the history of race and gender portrayal in comics and film, and introduce characters, writers, and authors who have a different voice than the primarily white, primarily male, straight principally characters written by generations of comic authors (themselves predominantly white, straight, and male). We would also like to empower young writers and artists by introducing them to the collaborative process that is comic creation and encouraging them to produce and submit work of their own for contests at the con.” This year’s Pocket Con is a partnership with Chicago Public Library, Stomping Grounds LAI, and the Museum of Contemporary Art. 

 

KAREEM BANDEALY(2011 3Arts Awardee), MICHEL RODRIGUEZ CINTRA (2013 3Arts/McCormick Family Foundation Awardee), and SYLVIA HERNANDEZ DISTASI (2014 3Arts Awardee)

On December 15, Lookingglass Theatre Company will broadcast its acclaimed production, Lookingglass Alice, on PBS stations nationwide for the first time. “Described as Alice in Wonderland meets Cirque du Soleil and adapted from the works of Lewis Carroll, Lookingglass Alice is a family friendly romp through the classic magical story. Filmed in Chicago by 25-time Emmy Award-winning Chicago-based production company, HMS Media, the production will be broadcast across the United States on December 15 at 8:00pm CT (check local listings).” Kareem and Michel are among the cast members and Sylvia devised the choreography. (Also, during December 14-17, Lookingglass presents a series of special events and screenings in-person, click here for more.)

 

AYAKO KATO (2016 3Arts/Reva & David Logan Foundation Awardee) and MABEL KWAN (2017 3Arts/Restoration Hardware Awardee)

On December 15, Ayako and Mabel are collaborating in a two-part program at Constellation in Chicago. In Breath/Carries/Ritual, Ayako joins Yvonne Wu and Jennifer Torrence to present a “transdisciplinary performance entangling breath, body, movement, sound, and stories.” In For Three Sleepless Nights, Mabel and Ayako are joined by Jason Roebke to present “a pursuit of tranquility with the play of kinetic and sonic space, silence, and stillness which generates a void for the flow of wind, gravity, and grace to come in.”  

 

TATSU AOKI (2010 3Arts Awardee) and RIKA LIN (2023 3Arts/ Reva & David Logan Foundation Awardee) 

On December 16 and 17, Tatsu and Rika are joined by other artists with Asian Improv aRts Midwest in two performances of music and movement at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. On December 16 at 7:00pm, the group presents the ninth iteration of Reduction, “a theatrical presentation with a goal to construct a bridge between tradition and modernity in a single performance and define the contemporary Asian American and Japanese American musical experience.”  On December 17 at 2:00pm, the group presents the Taiko Legacy 20^th Anniversary Concert, celebrating two decades of one of the largest taiko concerts in the Midwest built on the efforts of community activism in Asian American and Japanese American performing arts.